WASHINGTON - The consumer price index rose 0.4% in November boosted by a large monthly increase in gasoline prices, the Labor Department reported today.
Consumer prices for the year ending in November rose 1.8%, the first positive year-over-year change since February, Labor said.
However, core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, were unchanged for the month, highlighting the extent that energy price increases contributed to November's overall CPI increase. Still, core prices rose 1.7% for the year ending in November.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected the CPI to increase 0.4% in November and for core prices to increase 0.1%, according to the median estimate. Total consumer prices rose an unrevised 0.3% in October.
Gasoline prices rose 6.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in November, which accounted for over three-quarters of a 4.1% rise in energy prices, Labor said.
